


Blood Ties

by iselsis



Series: Vampire AU [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Gen, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd Steals the Batmobile Tires, Street Rat Jason Todd, Vampire Hunter Bruce Wayne, Vampire Jason Todd, Young Jason Todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28965486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iselsis/pseuds/iselsis
Summary: Vampire Jason Todd tries to steal the tires of the most feared vampire fighter in Gotham. If he can get the tires off before Batman returns, then he'll have enough food to buy blood bags for the rest of the month.The problem is, he doesn't.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Series: Vampire AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131410
Comments: 87
Kudos: 645
Collections: Jason Todd Steals the Batmobile Tires, Works good enough I will definitely reread





	Blood Ties

**Author's Note:**

> So, third fic of the day because LIMITS ARE JUST CHALLENGES *sobs quietly*
> 
> So, if you read Broken Wings, you saw Jason thinking "oh no, what if Batman's a vampire!" and that got vampires stuck in my head, so I mentioned this idea to Peri and Envy on discord, and then I wanted to clarify a conversation, a _short_ conversation and then I was going to take a nap because I'd gotten three or four hours of sleep, but then it spiraled and an hour and a half later, I had 2.5k and I realized all I had to do was add the very beginning and it was done.

Jason’s heart pounded in his chest, sending what thin, decaying blood he had left in him racing through his veins. If he got caught, he was going to wish he’d never been born, but he was starving, and if he didn’t get blood soon, he was going to go feral and attack someone without meaning too, and then _all_ the hunters would be coming for him, instead of just Batman.

That was why he had to take the risk.

The silver-plated rims would get a shit ton of money, enough to last him _months_ , and that wasn’t counting the bat-insignia hubcaps he’d pried off. Those hubcaps and the quality of the silver _proved_ who he’d stolen them from, guaranteeing that much more money. Once he’d sold them, he was going to be able to afford blood bags for a _year_ at least, maybe even a motel room or a coat when it got real cold.

Of course Batman’s tires would be the best, though. The silver wasn’t quite enough to make him _human_ weak _yet,_ but as close as he was, it certainly _was_ draining him, and it was getting worse the longer he stood near them. It didn’t help that Jason hadn’t eaten in a week, but he wouldn’t have been dumb enough to steal them if he hadn’t been so hungry. The silver and the intense ache it would surely bring later would normally be enough to ward off most nosy vampires, but not one as hungry as Jason.

Jason spun the tire iron as fast as he could, and he didn’t pause to pick up the bolt before moving to the next one. Once he had all the bolts off, he scooped them off the asphalt, stuffed them in his hoodie pocket, then pulled the tire off and ran it into the next alley. Hugging the silver so close to his chest made him _dread_ waking up the next day when the silver exposure had sunk in, but it was the fastest way.

He did the same with the next two, and he was feeling pretty hopeful despite his throbbing head and his strength reduced almost to the level of a human child as he started on the last tire. That was, until he heard a _swoosh_ so silent even his heightened hearing nearly missed it.

Jason didn’t even turn to look, just took off, because there was only one person that could possibly be.

_Shit shit shit shit shit!_

If he got caught by Batman, he was _dead_ , and that was _before_ Jason had stolen three of his tires and all his hubcaps.

A large hand seized Jason by the back of the neck and slammed him into the brick wall. Jason screamed and thrashed in terror, trying to use his strength to his advantage, but the silver had drained him too much, and the person—the _human_ —holding him in place like prey about to be devoured, was even stronger than he was normally, and much, much bigger.

“Let me go!” Jason screamed and tried to claw Batman arm, but the armored suit was too thick. “Let me go!”

There was an ominous _click_ of metal, and Jason shrieked and struggled even harder, pulling his hands up to his chest, pressed between his body and the wall to try to protect them, but his captor grabbed one of his biceps and pulled until he could seize Jason’s wrist with the other hand while keeping Jason’s body pressed firmly between his own and the wall.

Cold silver snapped around his wrist, and Jason screamed in terror. “Let me go! I didn’t do anything!”

Batman grunted in effort to keep Jason pinned, and for a split second of searing hope, Jason thought he was actually going to be able to get away.

Then Batman grabbed him by the shoulders, spun him around, and grabbed Jason’s free wrist before he could dart it behind his back. Jason tried to lean back as far as he could to keep Batman from being able to grab the cuffed wrist and bind them together, but Batman had much longer arms than he did, and he easily snatched the chain and slapped the empty cuff around Jason’s wrist.

Jason pulled against the cuffs, but they were unyielding no matter how desperately he tried.

Terrified tears sprung to his eyes. He knew what Batman did to vampires and criminals, and even though Batman didn’t kill people, if he beat Jason, as weak as he was from hunger and the silver he’d been touching, Jason wasn’t going to survive.

“What do you think you were doing?” Batman growled.

Jason looked up at him. And up. And kept looking, because Batman was _huge_ and built like a _mountain_. Even if Jason _hadn’t_ been already drained by silver, he wouldn’t have stood a chance against Batman. Jason’s _dad_ might have, but he was gone and dead or in prison, and maybe his mom would have been fast enough to take Jason and run, but that was before she’d succumbed to a silver addiction.

“Who told you to take my tires?” Batman demanded, his hand tight on Jason’s shoulder, almost to the point of being painful. It was a constant reminder that Batman could, at any moment, crush Jason like a mosquito if Jason did one more thing to piss him off.

Jason tried to answer, tried to tell Batman that no one had told him to do anything, that he’d just been stupid and hungry and he was _sorry,_ but all that came out was a bone-shuddering sob, then another, then another until his whole body was shaking.

Jason pulled in on himself as much as Batman’s grip would let him, trying to hide his tears and shield his face from any blows at the same time. He wanted his mom. He wanted his dad. He wanted to go _home_ , anywhere that wasn’t right in front of a furious vigilante. He tried to stop shaking, because people _hated_ it when he cried, but he couldn't stop and he didn't know what to _do_.

His heaving shoulders pulled against the cuffs, rattling them, and Jason snapped his head up because _dear god, he wasn’t trying to escape, it was an accident, please don’t kill me, please don’t cut me with silver._

Batman’s face was impassive, which was somehow even more terrifying. What was he going to _do_?

“ _Who_ ,” Batman started again his voice darker, “told you to take my tires?”

“N—no one!” Jason gasped through his tears. “Please, no one told me to do it!”

Batman didn’t look convinced. “Then why did you do it?”

Jason buried his head against his knees and curled up as tightly as he could because Batman was going to beat him or kill him or cut him with silver so he’d become addicted just like his mom and die a miserable death at his own hands because Jason just didn’t want to hurt anyone, but there was no way Batman was going to believe him.

Batman sighed, and then there was a heavy hand on Jason’s back.

Jason shrieked and threw himself forward, trying to get away, but he was just making things worse for himself. Even if Batman hadn’t been _going_ to kill Jason, now that Jason had tried to run, he definitely would.

Batman grabbed Jason by both his arms and pulled him up. Jason thought he was going to set him on his feet, but he kept lifting before setting Jason on the hood of his car.

Jason’s blood, what little remained in his body, froze.

No, no, Batman couldn’t do that, he couldn’t, not again—

“I’m not mad at you,” Batman lied smoothly. “Tell me who sent you, and I’ll let you go.”

Jason could just say someone’s name randomly, even a bad guy like Two-Face or the Joker, but then Batman was going to go fight them, and all their men would be hurt, and it wouldn’t be their fault, but Jason could run away and hide in his shadow until the night so he could try again.

He couldn’t do that.

Jason sniffled and gasped, trying to get ahold of himself. After a minute or two, during which Batman held him firmly but didn’t tighten or loosen his grip, Jason managed to stop the tears as best he could.

“I—I’m all alone,” Jason pleaded breathlessly. “Please don’t—don’t hurt anyone, I was just _hungry_ , no one told me to do it, but blood bags are _eh-eh-expensive,_ and I couldn’t get any money, and I don’t—please, I don’t want to be a whore anymore, and—”

Jason lowered his head so Batman couldn’t see the pain on his face when he burst back into tears. Jason had been thrown onto car hoods before. He knew what happened next.

Batman let go of one of Jason’s shoulders, and Jason flinched hard, drawing his knees up to his chest and praying that Batman didn’t cut his pants away.

Batman’s gauntleted hand came up and gently tilted Jason’s chin.

“I’m not a whore,” Jason begged before Batman could bring him in for a kiss.

“I know, son. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you like that again, okay?” Batman didn’t press any closer, just stared deeply into Jason’s eyes. Or maybe he was looking at more than Jason’s eyes, because Jason couldn’t see through those ghostly white lenses. “You drink blood from blood bags. Why?”

Jason sniffled and tried to pull his face away, the angle was hurting his neck because Batman was so _tall_ , but Batman held him firmly in place. With the silver cuffs draining his strength, he was powerless to fight back.

“I—I—” Jason cried.

“Shh,” Batman hushed. “Take your time. Tell me the truth.”

Jason had to take several seconds to take deep, level breaths before he could manage an answer. Not that it mattered, because Batman was never going to believe him anyway and he’d probably hurt Jason worse for _lying_ , but he’d also be mad if Jason said _nothing_.

“M—my mom got s—ilver poisoning,” Jason stammered through sharp gasps and sniffles. “A—and I couldn’t drink her blood ‘cause it was _silver_ , s—so I had to find blood somewhere else, but I don’t want to _hurt anyone_ , and I didn’t have money to buy straight from a person, so I had to buy bags, and I promise I don’t steal blood from humans, please, please, I don’t bite people, I—”

Batman’s expression was completely blank, and Jason stopped like he’d hit a brick wall. Did Batman believe him? Did he think Jason was lying? He was telling the truth, he really was, but if Batman was just getting mad at him, then Jason needed to stop, but if Batman believed him, then stopping would make it look like a lie!

“Blood bags aren’t healthy,” Batman murmured at last.

_Neither is getting beaten up,_ Jason thought hysterically, since Batman apparently suddenly cared about vampire health, but he didn’t because most the people Batman beat up were people who attacked innocent humans.

“I—I don’t have any money,” Jason mumbled back. He’d just said that.

Batman hesitated a moment, indecision in every line of his body, then let go of Jason with both hands. Jason barely had time to think that he should jump off and run before Batman reached into his belt and pulled out a small silver key.

Jason watched with bated breath as Batman slowly pulled him off the hood and knelt down in front of him. He kept Jason facing him as he reached behind Jason’s body and unlocked first one cuff, then the next.

The fear that kept Jason planted to the ground was stronger than the fear that wanted to send him running down the alley as soon as the silver left his skin and he felt his strength begin to seep back into him. It would take a few minutes for his strength to really come back, and Batman had already managed to catch him once. Better to stand and take whatever it was Batman had planned.

Batman didn’t grab for Jason again, probably thinking the same thing as Jason. Instead, Batman studied Jason’s face and body for a moment.

“Are you hungry?” Batman said at last.

“I—” Jason whimpered. _Yes,_ he was _starving,_ but if he admitted that, Batman would never let him go.

Batman looked away from Jason for a moment and tugged off his glove, revealing the hand and wrist below it, pale for a human but not quite white enough for a vampire. Jason didn’t understand.

Batman looked up at Jason and extended his bare wrist. “Are you hungry?”

Jason inhaled sharply and stumbled back, shaking his head. It was a trap. It was all a trap so Batman could prove that he was lying, but Jason was only barely holding himself back from mauling that wrist because it had been _so long_ since he’d eaten, and even longer since he’d had real blood that wasn’t full of chemicals and didn’t taste of dead plastic, and Batman was _human_ , so his blood would be warm and fresher than anything Jason had ever tasted…

Jason took a half step forward before pulling back and shaking his head desperately.

“I—I don’t steal blood, please, I don’t want it!” Jason begged. _Please put your hand down before I eat it and you kill me._

Batman shuffled a bit closer, extending his wrist pointedly to Jason. “I know. You’re a good boy, aren’t you? But I’m offering you my blood, and that means you’re allowed to take it as long as you don’t take enough to hurt me.”

Jason tried to think it through, tried to be rational and remember that Batman hated vampires, but the second he had permission, he lunged and grabbed Batman’s wrist.

Only once he had the warm flesh under his fingers did he snap back to himself and glance up at Batman, who nodded once.

Not taking his eyes off Batman, Jason lowered his mouth to Batman’s wrist. He licked it several times and waited a _painful_ minute to make sure that Batman’s wrist would be good and numb and that he wouldn’t get mad at Jason for it hurting before he rested his teeth against the skin. He paused one last moment to give Batman time to pull back, then slowly bit down.

He moaned when he felt the first drop of blood hit his tongue, and he pulled out his teeth before he could lose himself and bite too hard.

Blood flowed into his mouth like a slow river, and Jason moaned again as he lapped it up. Human blood, fresh from the source and not preserved or coursing through vampire veins, was the best thing he’d ever tasted. That enviable spot of warmth humans had was seeping into Jason, and he could feel himself growing stronger the more blood he sipped even as he felt himself melting on the inside.

Thoughtlessly, Jason reached up and grabbed Batman’s forearm in one hand and interlaced their fingers with the other so he could hold the wrist steady and _really_ drink.

Once Jason started to suck, he couldn’t stop, couldn’t even _imagine_ stopping. It was so warm, so filling, and he felt like he’d been cold and starving his whole life.

He would have kept drinking forever if silver-lined nubs hadn’t slid under his mouth and over the wound. Jason protested with a helpless whine and tried to move the nubs, the _fingers_ , but the hand that had pushed him away from the blood came up and took his chin between a thumb and a finger. Jason tried to lick the blood from them, but he couldn’t quite reach and the hand wasn’t _helping_.

“Look at me,” a deep voice said. “Come back now.”

Who was…

Jason looked down the hand holding him, then down an arm, then up a shoulder and a neck to a face—

Batman.

Holy hell, he’d just drank Batman’s blood.

“I’m starting to get dizzy,” Batman said, his tone still soft and gentle, maybe even _apologetic,_ instead of mad that Jason had just _bit him_. “Are you still hungry?”

Jason shook his head without thinking, but he _was_ still hungry, and it must have shown.

Batman stared at Jason a few moments longer, considering Jason. “Where are your clan?”

Jason shook his head. “M—my mom died. A hunter shot her, and she got hooked on silver, and—”

Batman looked surprisingly sympathetic, and even reached out to brush away the tears dripping from his eyes with his bare hand and letting Jason lick at the blood coagulating on his wrist.

“—my dad left us. I think he’s in jail now, but he left us,” Jason finished softly. “Th—they were both clanless.”

Batman nodded thoughtfully. “I see. So you don’t have anyone looking out for you?”

Jason bit his lip, not hard enough to make it bleed, but almost. Batman wasn’t just _asking_ ; he meant something by it.

But it was too late to lie.

Jason nodded.

“And you just live off blood bags?” Batman inquired.

Jason nodded fervently. “Please, I promise, I never drunk from a person ‘cept my mama and dad before.”

Batman smiled, a small ghost of a thing, and it was the most surreal moment of Jason’s life. “I trust you. I’m not going to hurt you. Will you tell me your name?”

Jason’s eyes welled. “Are you gonna let me go?”

Why did he need to know if Jason had a family? Why did he need to know what Jason ate? Why did he need Jason’s _name_? Was…was Batman planning to _steal_ Jason, like some freak pet or a trophy? Or did he need to test out his anti-vampire weapons and he wanted a guinea pig? Or would Batman just kill him? But why did he need Jason’s _name_ if he was just going to torture him, and why feed him if he was just going to kill him?

Batman’s smile slipped, and he hesitated. That was answer enough for Jason.

Jason buried his face in his hands, knocking away Batman’s hand in the process, and sobbed. He was stuck. He was never going to be able to get away, and he was going to have to do whatever Batman wanted for the rest of his life.

“It’s not safe for you out here,” Batman said cautiously. “And those blood bags are so unhealthy for you.”

“I don’t have a choice!” Jason screeched.

Batman reached out with his bare hand, and Jason flinched back, but Batman just took one of Jason’s hands and enveloped it with his warm, warm hand. Jason nearly melted all over again.

“You do have a choice,” Batman told him. “I can take you to Social Services, and they can find you a place…or you can come with me.”

Jason scrubbed at his eyes with his free hand. “With you? Are you gonna kill me?”

Batman chuckled softly. “No, son. I won’t hurt you. I just want to make sure you’re safe. We can get you fresh blood, a safe place to stay. You don’t have to live out here alone anymore.”

Jason’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. “B—but _why_?”

Batman brushed at Jason's tears again. “Because you’re just a little kid. You can’t help needing blood anymore than a human child can help needing to eat. You deserve having someone to take care of you.”

“But you hate vampires!” Jason protested because Batman couldn’t—he couldn’t really mean it.

Batman shook his head. “I don’t hate vampires. I just stop them from attacking humans, and I don’t hate _you_. Will you come with me?”

Would he? Could he do anything else?

Batman said Social Services or his own home. Vampire kids didn’t last long in foster care, either ‘cause of kinky bastards, superstitious freaks, or getting picked up by clans. On the other hand, Batman was offering Jason food and safety _just because_. No one ever got anything _just because_ , but Jason couldn’t figure out what Batman wanted.

“I…” Jason trailed off and looked to his feet. Whatever Batman wanted…if he let Jason feed like that…Jason had been hungry for so long. “I’m Jason.”

“Jason,” Batman repeated, seeming rather pleased.

Jason couldn’t tell if that was because he had just suckered Jason or if he just liked Jason’s name.

“Jason,” Batman said again, standing up. “Do you want to come with me?”

Jason hesitated one last moment. It was all or nothing, but he didn’t have any other options. “Yes, sir.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [drink your fill](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29004213) by [envysparkler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/envysparkler/pseuds/envysparkler)
  * [Bloodlust](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29026776) by [I_Write_Midnight_Snacks (Pink_and_Purple_Daisies)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pink_and_Purple_Daisies/pseuds/I_Write_Midnight_Snacks)
  * [Changes of State](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29338680) by [Sword_Kallya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sword_Kallya/pseuds/Sword_Kallya)




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